Learning to Heal
by melwa elena
Summary: Where does Estel's love for healing come from? Does it come from Elrond's education or from helping a friend?
1. Chapter 1

Here it is, my new story! I promise not to take as long to finish it as I did last time. I had this plot outline laying around for a while and I finally managed to make something out of it. Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think of it.

Disclaimer: NOTHING of Lord of the Rings is mine. wishful thinking: please Santa, give me a part for Christmas

CHAPTER ONE

While Elladan and Elrohir were out to a hunting trip with another elf, who Estel had never met, he was looking for a quiet place to read a book. Wandering through the halls he found what he was looking for. The door stood open and the chamber was empty. In the middle of the room was a bed with clean white sheets and against one of the walls was a medicine cabinet. Estel loved to go to the house of healing, because it was quiet there and he could play as long as he liked. It also proved to be a good hiding place. Last time he hid there it had taken Elrohir over three hours to find him. When Lord Elrond found out about it, Estel had paid for it with a long lecture from his stepfather.

But Estel always felt comfortable in the house of healing. And right now he needed a quiet place he could read one of his favourite books. Elrohir had given him this book. He had written it especially for his little stepbrother. Estel had continuously asked for Elrohir to tell him a story before he went to bed. And Elrohir had created an imaginary elf, Caleb. Which was not completely imagenary, because Elrohir sometimes used things in his stories which he, Elladan and their friend Legolas had experienced.

Estel had always loved these stories and Elrohir had decided to write some of his stories down, so Estel could read them whenever he liked. What Estel loved most about Caleb, was that he was always so brave and courageous. Somehow Estel hoped he could grow up and find the same bravery within himself. He knew that his twin brothers were just like Caleb and they were an example for Estel.

But right now Elladan and Elrohir weren't in Rivendell. He already missed them, certainly when he thought about the fact they would be gone for at least two weeks. Lord Elrond had told him that they were on a hunting trip with one of their friends from Mirkwood. Estel hadn't met him, because he arrived late yesterday night. And he did not have a chance to meet him this morning.

Before Estel settled himself down in one of the chairs, he opened the window. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining over the valley. A soft breeze rocked the leaves back and forth. It gave Estel a peaceful feeling. He opened his book and started reading. After a while he felt sleepy and it did not take long before he fell asleep.

He dreamed of going on adventures with Caleb. Finding his way through the forest and crossing a treacherous river. Or just narrowly escaping dangerous animals. In his dreams Estel was never afraid. But his dreams abruptly ended when Lord Elrond entered the room.

"Estel what have I told you?"

Estel looked down, not daring to look at his father. He knew he was not allowed to be in the halls of healing.

"You know you may not be here. These room are needed if anyone comes in ill. You would not like it if anyone was in your room, would you?"

"No ada, I would not. I am sorry."

"Alright, will you come with me to have lunch?"

"Yes ada," Estel replied. He knew Lord Elrond wasn't all that angry, because he understood why Estel came there. Lord Elrond himself liked some peace in his halls. And he knew Estel did not only go there to read, he occasionally liked to observe what the healers were doing. He was always interested in how they were able to cure somebody by mixing all kinds of herbs.

Estel had asked his stepfather to teach him some of these things, but Lord Elrond had thought him to young. But now he was old enough to learn some of Elrond's skills.

Elrond said: "Shall I learn you something about the ways of healing this afternoon?"

A wonderful smile appeared on Estel's face. "Yes, I would love that!" He jumped up and down the hall and could not wait until this afternoon.

Well this was it for now. Please let me know if you liked it. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

The next chapter in the adventures of our three elves.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Lord of the Rings.

CHAPTER TWO

The three friends rode out early in the morning. Lord Elrond had been asking them to stay at least one more day, because Legolas had only arrived the evening before. But stubborn as the three of them could be, especially Legolas, they left at the break of dawn. The weather was ideal for travelling. A nice breeze blew through the Rivendell valley and the sun was shining. Summer was approaching and the flowers bloomed. The leaves of the trees were a wonderful green.

For Legolas this was one of his favourite times of year. The trees were waking from the winter time. He loved listening to their whispers. Legolas always had a special connection with nature. In some situations this connection was very useful, the threes warned him if danger was approaching or gave shelter when he needed it. And therefore had saved his life more than once.

Elladan, Elrohir and Legolas had travelled a long time and they decided to stop at the bank of the river. The river was not flowing very fast which made it ideal for a swim. They took of their shirts and dived in the water. All three were having great fun and enjoyed seeing each other again, for it had been quite some time ago.

Lord Elrond took Estel to the house of healing. He showed were the herbs and medicines where stored and where some of the healers prepared medications. After that Elrond decided it was time to get Estel accustomed to some of the most important herbs which could come in handy in dire situations.

"This plant is called Athelas, but men also call it Kingsfoil. It is a weed and it has the ability to slow some poisons. And this is..."

Estel was listing intently to what Elrond was telling him. He was fascinated with all the different herbs and their functions. Estel knew it was only the beginning of learning all there was to the art of healing, but he enjoyed it very much.

At the end of the day Estel was allowed to make a sleeping tea with the help of Elrond. Together they brought it to one of the patients. Elrond saw that Estel was a good student for he had constantly paid attention and he had hardly needed any help when making the tea.

The three friends were on their way again, riding through the forest of Rivendell. They would make camp at the border of the Elven Kingdom. The sun was quickly fading between the trees and at last they found the perfect spot to make up camp.

"This is wonderful, the trees give shelter, which is nice for it might rain tonight."

Elrohir and Legolas agreed with Elladan. There was some arguing who would take the first watch.

"Legolas, you will not take the first watch, you have hardly had any rest when you arrived last night. So you will sleep." Elladan said.

Elrohir teased: "Our little princeling needs his beauty sleep."

Reluctantly Legolas unrolled his bedroll and lay down. Elladan insisted to take the first watch and Elrohir did the same as Legolas.

Well this was it for the second chapter. I promise that the next chapter will contain some more action.

Please review, I appreciate it very much if you let me know what you think of it.

Love, Melwa Elena


	3. Chapter 3

Believe it or not, but I wrote a part of this story in the train, while travelling from home to the place where I go to school (a trip of almost four hours).

Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings is not mine, nor any characters, places etc.

CHAPTER THREE

Elrohir took the second watch. He looked up to the sky. Hardly any stars were visible. The sky was clouded and dark. It did not take long before the rain started pouring down. Elladan and Legolas woke up from the cold wet drops of rain.

"Maybe we should try to find a cave to give some shelter against this terrible rain." Elrohir suggested.

The other two nodded. They untied the horses and made their way through the forest. It took them about 20 minutes to find a small cave where they could find shelter from the rain. The three cuddled together to find some warmth.

"Hopefully it will not rain when we wake up tomorrow morning." Elladan said.

"Hmm, I do not think it will." His brother replied.

Legolas and Elladan went back to bed. Elrohir tried to fight off the sleep and tried to stay alert, because this weather always seemed to cause the darkest creatures to roam through the woods.

Elrohir slipped away to the land of dreams. When he woke up again, he heard the footsteps of creatures running through the forest. He listened intently to discern which creatures it were. After several minutes he was certain it were orcs and that they were coming their way.

He softly shook Elladan's and Legolas's shoulder. (double genitive)

"What..?" a very sleepy Legolas asked.

"Orcs, they are coming our way. Hopefully they will change their path, but we must prepare for battle."

Legolas took his bow and Elladan and Elrohir drew their swords. They listened and looked in the distance to see if any orcs had spotted their hiding place.

After a while they saw them coming through the trees, moving directly to them. Elladan and Elrohir stepped out of the cave for hiding was no longer possible. Legolas watched their backs.

Legolas took an arrow and fired the first shot. One of the orcs dropped death to the ground. The first clashes of swords rang through the woods and it seemed that more and more orcs ran to the battlefield when they heard the sounds.

Elrohir had slain several orcs and quickly shot a glance at his brother to see if he was all right. He seemed to be doing fine. Legolas had climbed up the hill and stood on top of the cave entrance, which was about 20 feet from the ground. He was firing arrow after arrow, sometimes even two at a time.

Legolas was focusing on one of the orcs at the back which was also carrying a bow. He drew his bow and at the moment he wanted to fire he heard the swing of a sword behind him. Legolas tried to dodge the blow, but only partly succeeded. The sword hit his left side, which was bleeding profusely.

The attack was not over yet. Legolas tried to grab one of his twin knives, but the orc was quicker. He pushed Legolas off balance and he fell to the ground. The orc put his hands around Legolas neck trying to choke him.

Elladan and Elrohir had notice that the flight of arrows had stopped. Elladan looked over his shoulder and saw Legolas trying to fight of an orc that lay on top of him. Elladan wanted to help Legolas, but could not leave his brother to fight off the other orcs. Elladan threw himself even harder into the fight. He killed several orcs, leaving only three others alive.

Elrohir who also had noticed that Legolas was in danger yelled: "Go, I'll manage."

Legolas felt his strength slip away. The orc lifted him up. "Bye bye," the orc sneered.

Before the orc could finish off Legolas, Elladan chopped of his head. The orc dropped to the ground. Legolas who had hardly any strength left, staggered and before Elladan could catch him, he fell of the cliff.

"No!!" Elladan's cry rang out.

He rushed down the hill towards Legolas. Elrohir was already with him. He had slain the last orc and was looking at Legolas.

Legolas was laying lifelessly and in an awkward position on the ground. His head had hit a stone and his side was still bleeding.

Sorry, just a little cliffhanger. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.

Thanks to those of you who reviewed my previous chapters. I really appreciate your opinion.

Love,

Melwa Elena


	4. Chapter 4

I am trying to update regularly and without making you all wait too long, but school is very demanding at the moment. I need to pass the coarse that I am taking now, otherwise I may not continue. So recently I have been working terribly hard to be able to hand in all my assignments on time. But here it is a new chapter. I hope you will enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings is not mine. It belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.

CHAPTER FOUR

For a split second Elladan and Elrohir were looking at Legolas as if they did not know what to do. Both a little dazed from what had just happened, Elladan was the first to react.

"Elrohir, get my pack, I need some of the herbs and bandages to help Legolas."

Elrohir ran back to their horses that had been hiding from the orcs. He quickly checked for injuries, but when he did not see any he returned to his brother.

Elladan was trying to stop the bleeding and his twin handed him a piece of cloth to put some extra pressure on the wound. To their relief the bleeding slowed down. Elrohir searched his pack for Athelas to put on the wound to make sure it would not become infected.

With the two of them they bound the wound and moved on to take a look at Legolas' head injury.

"He'll have a terrible headache when he wakes, but the wound itself does not look too bad."

Elrohir cleaned the wound with water and Athelas and bound it, while Elladan took a first look at what was probably Legolas' worst injury, his legs. Elladan placed his hand on Legolas' left leg. Slowly feeling if the bone was broken. He felt two fractures, which he could put back into place with his brother's help.

"And… how bad is it?" Elrohir asked.

"I need your help with his left leg, there are two fractures and the bone needs to be reset. We can't do much for the other leg. We'll have to wait until we are back home and let ada treat it."

Elrohir nodded in agreement. They could not do anything about the open fracture. The bone was visible through the skin and did not want to put Legolas in any more danger than he already was.

Elrohir immobilised Legolas' legs with a splint. They could not carry Legolas with them on one of their horses, so they made a stretcher. It would slow their journey, but they did not dare to risk more damage to his legs. When they had checked all his wounds, they lifted the stretcher and went on their way.

The sun was shining and the forest looked beautiful. It was a peaceful journey, with nothing more than the chirping of birds and the sound of the horses following the elves. They hoped to reach Imladris within one and a half day. Elrohir and Elladan were quiet for most of the day. They made frequent stops to check if their friend was all right.

With the sun setting in the sky, the twins decided they had walked long enough for one day.

"If we start out early in the morning again, we might reach ada a little earlier than planned."

"Well, that's good. But what actually worries me is that Legolas has not woken up yet," Elrohir said, "His head injury did not look so bad..." He let his voice trail off. He did not dare think about the possibility of Legolas never waking up.

His brother understood his fears and placed an arm around Elrohir's shoulder. "Don't worry, tomorrow we'll be home."

Back at home, Lord Elrond was busy sorting out all sorts of papers and he had to make preparations for a delegation of Loth Lordien elves that would arrive somewhere during the day.

When he was almost finished with reading through the documents Estel burst into the room. He had a big smile on his face and he almost seemed to glow.

"Ada will you teach me some more today?"

Elrond smiled at his son's enthusiasm. He knew that Estel really enjoyed his healing lessons.

Elrond also knew that they would be needed in the future. For he had seen in his visions. Yet he knew the future could change, but many years from now Estel might do great things.

"I am sorry Estel, but this evening a delegation of Loth Lorien elves will arrive and there is so much left to do."

Estel had heard stories about Lorien. He knew that Elrond's daughter lived there with her grandparents. Estel hoped that he could finally meet Elrond's other daughter, because he enjoyed being with the twins. So secretly he had imagined her to be as nice as the twins. Yet he did not dare ask Elrond if she was coming to Imladris.

Elrond continued: "Maybe you want to help me with some of the preparations. I was thinking of asking one of the maids to put some flowers in the bedrooms, and maybe you would like to help her?"

"Yes, I'd love to."

With the twins being gone, Estel was willing to do almost anything. It was rather boring to be in Imladris without the Elladan and Elrohir. Elrond knew this and therefore tried to provide some distractions for Estel. Elrond took him downstairs, where the preparations for the evening's banquet were up and running.

Estel went with one of the maids to help her, while Elrond was in the hall giving orders to some elves.

Later that day the Lorien delegation arrived. Estel was nervous, mostly because he hoped Arwen would be there, but also because he knew all these elves were important and he knew he had to behave appropriately.

Elrond was wishing everyone a warm welcome and leading the elves to the great hall where dinner would be served. Estel was watching the elves with great curiosity and wondering who they were. He was looking if he could spot a feminine elf that might be Arwen, but he soon learned that his quest was in vain. When overhearing a conversation between Elrond and a Lorien elf, he found out that Arwen was not present.

"My Lord, Arwen wrote you a letter."

"Thank you, Echtal".

"There something else, Lord Elrond. When we were travelling across the border of Imladris the trees were warning us for danger. The atmosphere seemed darker and was filled with tension. Just a minute later it started raining and after a while the tension seemed to slowly fade away."

Estel saw the worried expression on Elrond's face and Estel immediately thought of Elladan and Elrohir. They were on a trip with one of their friends and where travelling through the forest. He hoped they were alright and thought of his favourite elf Caleb. He hoped they were just as good as Caleb was in his stories. Fighting their way out of dangerous situations.

To be continued...

I'd really like to know what you all think about it, so please review.

See you at chapter five ; )


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